Category: Playing the Game

At this time of the year, when all the competitions are concluded golfers at times need an incentive to spice up their games or just to keep their interest up.

In my case I’m now north of 110 games played for the season and unless there is something on the line my interest tends to wane and at times I suffer from lapses of concentration on the course.

Playing for something (money) no matter how small the amount can get everyone back in the game.

On the first tee this morning I made my three golf partners and offer the could not refuse. I proposed that we play my ball against their best ball. My handicap is 4 and they are all in the 10-12 range, and pretty solid players. Needless to say they accepted the proposal.

Things did not start out well for me. I bogied the first hole and lost the next two to birdies. By the time we got to the 9th hole I was four down, so naturally I used my front nine press and was fortunate to win the 9th hole with a par to cut my front nine losses.

I played better on the back nine and managed several clutch putts to par holes for ties on the back nine. The long and the short of it was that when we reached 18, I was two up on the back. Now it was their opportunity to press and they did. We tied 18 with pars so the press was a tie.

It ended up they won the front and the 18, I won the front nine press and the back nine so no money changed hands. However, all of us were invested in the game and the outcome for all 18 holes and if was an enjoyable and challenging match.

I’m hoping we do this again. I fully understand my odds of winning are not great but it was an enjoyable challenge.

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As indicated in a previous post I recently participated in the Manitoba Senior Championship.

During the course of the event I played with a number of different golfers as the pairings were adjusted after every round based on scoring, so I was able to observe different players both on the course and in preparation for play.

What follows are some observations that struck me about seniors who play competitive golf:

The love of the game and the dedication to honing ones golf skills. The vast majority of the participants arrived at the course well in advance of their tee times and spent significant time on the driving range, chipping area and on the putting green.

How the competitive embers are fanned and come to life during a tournament.

How advancements in technology have added to the enjoyment of the game for older golfers. I overheard more than a few players talk about their new driver or new set of irons, hybrids etc. and how the new clubs have made them longer and more accurate. Comments like “I’m hitting it longer now than when I was 40” are common among seniors, and in many cases they are also true.

Golfers willingness to use ‘aids’ to compensate for parts of the body that are simply wearing out. I observed more than a few players adjusting their lower back supports, strap on knee braces, squeeze into elbow and wrist supports. I observed several players (myself included) bolster their resolve by popping Advil and other anti inflammatory and pain killing drugs, jut to be able to compete. As well as I walked down the line at the driving range I noticed I was not the only player emanating a strong odour of A535 and other assorted topical treatments.

It would seem the old adage ‘golfers never die they only lose their balls’ is indeed true.

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What do golfers do when they are not scoring well and their handicap starts to climb? All too often they buy new equipment, a new driver perhaps, or some wedges, or even a new set of irons.

I’m facing that dilemma right now.

I finished up last year with a handicap of 3.6. It’s normal at the start of a new season for the handicap to rise a bit, and then stabilize once you’ve played ten or fifteen games.

I’m now between 30 and 40 games into the new season and my handicap has climbed to just below 7 with no sign of slowing its ascent.

For those of you who have read my previous posts you will know that I made some pretty dramatic changes this year, trialing a set of single length irons. As my cap kept going up my first thought was that it must be the irons. I stuck with them for the first 30 rounds and then decided to switch back to my conventional length clubs.

That however did not cure the problem. I had a few good rounds and then things reverted to normal (the normal for this season that is).

That’s when I decided to look at the stats. When I enter my scores I use the stats option and track just some of the basics: fairways hit, greens in regulation and putts, ah yes putts.

I’ve never been a great putter, however I’ve been a steady putter who normally has very few 3 putts. I had been noticing that I was 3 putting more this year than in the past, and when I looked at the numbers I was taken aback. My fairways hit and greens in regulation had not changed significantly. However, my putts per hole changed from 1.8 to just under 2 putts per hole. This translates into less pars and birdies (I no longer hit it long enough to get many eagles), and more bogies and doubles.

When worked out in terms of putts per round, the increase in my putting stats corresponds very closely to the rise in my handicap. So the culprit is not my new irons, or the new driver I’m using this year, it’s putting.

So what do you think happened to the new putter I put in play this year? If you guessed ‘penalty box’ you are right. I played a number of rounds with my trusty putter from last year and a few more with older putters that had been languishing in the penalty box for several years.

The problem is I’m not able to putt well with any putter right now which means its not the putter that’s the problem , its the puttee.

Case in point, last Monday I played a match at the Selkirk Golf and Country Club and my partner and I managed to halve the front 9. Neither of us were playing particularly well on the back nine but I managed to birdie holes 14 (538 yard par 5) and 15 (565 yard par 5) to go one up on the back. I followed that up with a 2 putt from short range on 16, and 3 putts on 17 and 18 to lose the back nine.

So what did I do yesterday in the rain? I went out and practiced. With an array of putters I hit around 600 putts over a 4 and a half hour period, trying every grip and set-up known to man plus a few others. The result, inconclusive at best.

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As a golfer who has been dabbling with a single plane swing and single length irons for many years I have been following Bryson DeChambeau’s progress closely.

Many have told me that Dechambeau’s success in winning the NCAA individual title and United States Amateur were ‘flukes’ and that he would turn out to be a ‘flash in the pan’. Many are not prepared to believe that a golfer using single length irons and a single plane swing could be successful at the professional level.

After DeChambeau’s recent performance at the Masters (low amateur and T21 overall) and T4 at Harbour Town in his first event as a professional, many including big name television commentators covering those events are starting to come around. They are starting to admit albeit grudgingly, that Dechambeau may be the real thing.

I for one am a firm believer in DeChambeau’s approach to the game and the method he is using to achieve his goal. For those of you who know me you are probably getting tired of hearing me talk about DeChambeau and myPinhawk single length irons.

As indicated in a previous post I will be starting this golf season using both single length irons and a single plane swing.

I’ve played 3 rounds with my single length irons so far and the results are encouraging.

As promised in an earlier post, once we get a little further into the season (a least 10 games) I will report back and provide an evaluation of my single length irons.

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With three rounds of even par 72, and one round of 77 Dechambeau completed his first Masters tied for 21st. place. His score of +5 was good enough to earn him low amateur honours .

Pictured below are the irons he ended up playing at the Masters.

Many amateurs would not be caught dead playing with a set of irons that look like the irons Bryson Dechambeau used at the Masters this week.

Granted, they are not the prettiest irons I’ve ever seen but more and more I’m coming to the realization that appearance is far less important than performance.

For many of us who are interested in the single length iron and single plane swing concepts, the Master finally provided us with an opportunity to have a good look at Bryson’s clubs and more importantly, his swing.

I still marvel at how accurately, and how far he is able to hit the ball with such and upright swing. I’ve included links to a number of videos from the Masters that display his swing action from different angles. Make particular note of his right arm to shaft position even with his longer clubs. They provide and excellent example of the single plane swing setup.

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Golf has only been played at the Olympics on two occasions: 1900 in Paris, France and the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri.

After an absence of 106 years, golf will once again be an Olympic sport this summer at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

Who is the defending champion? Well its Canada of course.

The individual gold medal at the 1904 Olympics was won by George Seymour Lyon of Canada.

Lyon, (July 17,1858 – May 11th 1938) was born in Richmond Ontario. Lyon, a cricket batsman did not take up golf until 1896, at the age of 38. Eight years later he won Olympic Gold.

Just in case you might think his Olympic Gold win was a fluke, Lyon won the Canadian Amateur Championship eight times between 1898 and 1914. He also won the Canadian Senior Golf Championship a total of 10 times between 1918 and 1930.

In 1908 Lyon went to London England to defend his Olympic Gold title but golf was removed from the Olympics because of a dispute between English and Scottish representatives over the format of play (Lyon won the title in St. Louis at match play).

Lyon was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame (1955) and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame(1971.

Who will defend the title for Canada

The field for the Olympics is restricted to 60 players in both the men’s and ladies divisions.

Eligibility will be determined by the World Golf Rankings. The top 15 players on the world rankings are eligible to play, the only restriction being that no country can have more than four players.

Apart from the top 15 players in the Wold Rankings, each country that does not already have two or more players in the top 15 can send two eligible players.

In the case of Canada those two players based on the rankings as they stand today would be Dave Hearn (ranking 38th) and Graham DeLaet (41).

Based on the current standings on the women’s side, Canada will be represented by Brook Henderson (9) and Alena Sharp (38).